Mobility platform Socar targets $1.2 bn value for Aug IPO

South Korea’s car-sharing platform Socar Inc. has estimated its corporate value at up to 1.6 trillion won ($1.2 billion) for an initial public...

Korean duty-free shops hit by unfavorable exchange rate, limited inventory

The duty-free industry has been hoping that the end of COVID-19-related travel restrictions would help boost its sales. Even as international t...

K-beauty sales see sharp drop at China's major shopping event

South Korean cosmetics giants failed to win over Chinese consumers at the 618 Shopping Festival, one of the largest online annual shopping events in...

LG, Kakao Mobility to roll out autonomous delivery robot service

LG Electronics Inc. and Kakao Mobility Corp. have agreed to form a future mobility technology partnership with an aim to jointly launch an autonomou...

Korea’s adult audio platform eyes Japan for global biz

South Korea’s adult audio content platform for women raised money to make inroads into Japan as a start of its global business.Sensual Moment ...

KT to spend near $10 bn on digital platform by 2026

KT Corp., a South Korean telecom giant, plans to invest nearly $10 billion in its digital platform sector by 2026 as it aims to focus on the industr...

Lotte Duty Free to close COEX store in central Seoul

Lotte Duty Free, South Korea’s largest duty-free business operator, is closing one of its flagship stores in Seoul in the wake of the COVID-19...

Korea's small webtoon platforms eye global adult markets

South Korea’s smaller webtoon platforms are targeting the world’s digital adult comics market, in which industry leaders Naver Corp. and...

LS Electric acquires Nokia’s power facility asset analysis platform

LS Electric announced Wednesday it has acquired Nokia’s power facility asset analysis platform. The power solutions arm of South Korea&rs...

Kakao to focus on interest-based platform for global market

South Korea’s online platform giant Kakao Corp. plans to shift its focus to an interest-based platform from its existing acquaintance-based me...

BTS' Army, Blackpink's Blink power Korea fandom platforms

Army of BTS, Blink of Blackpink and other global fan clubs of the world’s K-pop stars are strengthening the fan engagement platform business o...

LUNA 2.0 skyrockets to $30 before losing 80% in first day of trade

The price of LUNA 2.0 (LUNA), the brand-new token of the controversial Terraform Labs Ltd., has been on a tumultuous ride since its debut a couple o...

NongHyup to gain toehold in southwest Asia with India branch

NongHyup Bank, a major arm of South Korea's National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, got the nod from India last week to open its first branch ...

VA Corp. to build Asia’s largest virtual studio with LG’s LED displays

VA Corp. (VAC), a South Korean visual effects production startup, is building Asia’s largest virtual studio complex equipped with super-large ...

Musinsa drops plan to buy Japan-focused rival fashion platform

South Korea’s top online fashion platform Musinsa withdrew a plan to acquire a local rival that focuses on Japanese shoppers.The move indicate...

Hankook Tire builds Asia’s largest proving ground for future car tires

Hankook Tire & Technology Co., South Korea’s top tire maker, said on Wednesday it has opened Asia’s largest proving ground to test t...

KT's transformation beyond telco to digital platform

South Korea’s telecom operator KT Corp. surprised the market early this month with a 41.1% on-year surge in first-quarter operating profit, wh...

E-Mart, Lotte Shopping hit by US retailers' earnings shocks

Shares in E-Mart Inc., South Korea’s largest supermarket chain, have been hovering near their lowest level in almost two years, on the back of...

Kakao to merge US webtoon, web novel platforms

South Korea’s Kakao Entertainment Co. is set to merge Tapas Media Inc. and Radish Fiction Inc., its webtoon and mobile novel platforms in Nort...

E-Mart's conundrum over changing shopping habits

For middle-class families in South Korea, it has become a morning ritual to bring the boxes of fresh produce and daily necessities delivered overnig...

Korea electronics retailers face headwind from e-commerce, dept. stores

South Korea’s major electronics retailers such as Lotte Himart are facing a headwind as more customers are buying home appliances online and d...

Samsung SDS takes smart logistics platform Cello Square to China

Samsung SDS Co., the information technology service unit of Samsung Group, is taking its smart logistics platform, Cello Square, to China to offer l...

HBO, Paramount to enter Korea via local OTT players

Two US streaming platforms HBO Max and Paramount Plus will be launching South Korean services this year via domestic over-the-top (OTT) players in a...

CJ ventures into fandom platform with $17 mn investment

CJ Group, one of South Korea’s largest family run conglomerates, or chaebol, is venturing into the fandom platform business with a 22.4 billio...

SK Telecom to launch metaverse platform in Europe

South Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. and its spin-off investment firm SK Square Co. joined hands with Europe’s largest teleco...

SKT, SK Square invests $40 mn in Korea metaverse game firm

South Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. and its spin-off SK Square Co. have together invested 50 billion won ($40 million) into a loca...

Kakao CEO vows messenger app reform as Q1 misses forecasts

South Korea’s leading online platform operator Kakao Corp. plans to drastically change the way KakaoTalk, the country’s top mobile messe...

Shinhan to boost Vietnam digital services with Tiki

South Korea's Shinhan Financial Group has picked Vietnam’s e-commerce startup Tiki as its first strategic partner in the Southeast Asian count...

Koreans' fractional investing craze spreads to cows

Investment rights for dozens of Korean calves, worth a combined 10 million won ($7,900), sold out within one minute after each of the three investme...

Kakao to launch webtoon platform in Indonesia for SE Asia

Kakao Entertainment Co. will launch a webtoon platform in Indonesia, the most populous country in Southeast Asia, to expand the business in the regi...